Speech fright : A study into communication apprehension and self-perceived communication competence among upper-secondary Swedish ESL/EFL students

Abstract: The topic of communication apprehension and self-perceived communication competence in a second language learning has had a growing resurgence in recent years. The consensus among scholars is that communication apprehension is disruptive and can manifest in difficulties and disabilities for second language acquisition. Research concerning communication apprehension for second language learning has been less than satisfactory, even more so in a Swedish context. Therefore, the aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, to investigate how prevalent communication apprehension is among upper-secondary Swedish ESL/EFL students in terms of sociolinguistic factors and secondly, to investigate the correlation between students’ scoring on the Personal Report on Communication Apprehension and the Self-Perceived Communication Competence Scale. The participants for this study consisted of 96 Swedish ESL/EFL students enrolled in two public upper-secondary schools in Stockholm. The data on students’ level of CA and SPCC were gathered using a survey comprising McCroskey’s Personal Report of Communication Apprehension and the Self-Perceived Communication Competence Scale. Data analysis included a T-test for independent samples and Pearson’s correlation coefficient with a student’s tdistribution. Analysis of means indicate a moderate level of communication apprehension in English among the participants. Statistically significant differences (p-value<0.001) were found among the participants based on gender, age, academic achievement and programme enrolment. The results also indicate that the participants reported a moderate level of self-perceived communication competence in English. They felt more competent communicating in dyads, with friends and acquaintances whereas they felt less competent with strangers and in public. This study can disclose a strong inverse correlation between the participants’ reported CA scores in relation to their SPCC scores (-0.75%). This relationship was statistically significant (pvalue<0.000) with a sample of 96 cases. Implications of findings could provide Swedish language teachers with insight into the extent of these variables and the relationship between willingness to communicate, communication apprehension and self-perceived communication competence.